Fireproof floor and ceiling.



No. 642,700. Patented'Feb. 6, I900.

G LIEBAU FIREPBGUF FLOOR AND CEILING.

(Application filed Nov. 3, 1898.)

(No Model.)

Ni BED STATES GUSTAV LIEBAU, OF MAURER, NEW JERSEY FIREPROOF FLOOR ANDCEILING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 642,700, dated February6, 1900.

Application filed November-3 1898. Serial No. 695,366. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GUsTAv'LIEBAU, a citizen of the United States, and aresident of Maurer, in the county of Middlesex and State of New Jersey,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Fireproof Floorsand Ceilings, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates ,to certain new and useful improvements infireproof floors and ceilings, and has for its object the production ofsuch a floor or ceiling in which the use of the usual vl-beams may bedispensed with, which may be constructed with a greater width of spanthan heretofore considered safe or practicable, and which will be light,strong, thoroughly fireproof, and economical.

To these ends, therefore, my said invention consists in the novelfeatures and in the arrangement and combination of the constitu-.

ent parts, all as hereinafter more fully described, and pointed out inthe claims.

In the accompanying drawings, in the several views of which like partsare similarly designated, Figure 1 is a fragmentary perspective view ofa floor and ceiling between two supporting or end walls, showing thetiles of the floor or ceiling at one side extending through or acrossthe supporting or end wall and at the other side embedded therein; andFigs. 2, 3, 4, and 5 are end views of two courses of the floor orceiling tiles, showing my invention and illustrating, respectively,different forms of such tiles.

a represents fireproof bricks or tiles of any desired pattern havingformed on-their opposite sides parallel grooves or channels I). When thetiles are laid, the channels or grooves therein on adjacent coursescoincide to form continuous transverse channels wholly between the topand bottom faces of such tiles, as clearly shown in the drawings. Eachtile, therefore, on each side has grooves or channels one-half the sizeand shape of the channels extending through the floor or ceiling whenthe same is laid, and within these channels are embedded metallicstrengthening rods or strips 0, the channels in the tiles being ofcourse in each case appropriately shaped to receive the same. The metalrods or strips 0 may be of any desired conformation and as many may beused for each two courses of tiles as may be deemed necessary, dependingupon the amount of strength required as well as upon the height of thetiles. I have found in practice, however, that good results are obtainedin the majority of cases by using for each two courses two T-iron rodsor strips, the lower one of which is inverted, as shown. The practicaleffect of this arrangement is the embedding between adjacent coursesoftiles of light I-beams, with the central part omitted, its place beingtaken by the solid walls of the tiles on adjacent courses. I do not,however, desire to limit myself to this construction, as the shape, thenumber, and the arrangement of the metal strips 0 may be varied at willand still remain within the scope and purview of my invention.

In constructing a building embodying my invention the supporting or endwalls cl are laid to the height of the first floor or ceiling. \Voodencenters supported from below are then placed in position, and on thesecenters the tiles a, in which are embedded the strips 0, are laid inmortar in the usual manner. The tiles and metal strips may be carriedacross the top of the walls d, as shown at m, Fig. 1, in which case theopenings in the tiles may be filled with mortar or cement to affordadditional strength to bear the wall above, which may be laid upon suchtiles, or the tiles,

. with their inclosed strips 0, maybe embedded in the wall d, as shownat y, Fig. 1. Again, when the latter construction is used the Walls dmay be laid up with the recesses or indentations y at the floor-lines,in which the end tiles a may be subsequently inserted.

It will be noticed that by my construction no I-beams are necessary,that the usual tie bolts or rods are dispensed with, and that thestructure islight, cheap, and strong, and may be made with a practicallyunlimited width of span. It will also be obvious that the metal rods orstrips 0 may be constructed to serve as anchors by forming the same withbolts on its ends adapted to extend through the supporting or end wallsd and to receive outside such walls washers and nuts in the usualmanner.

By my invention but one form of brick or tile is necessarily used,thereby rendering the construction more rapid, simple, and economicalthan where skewbacks, keys,

IOO

grooves,forming channels substantially above and below the centerthereof and in the same vertical plane, and within the boundary of thesaid tiles or bricks, and metallic rods or strips located within thechannels formed by the said coinciding grooves, whereby the said tilesor bricks are locked together at a point both above and below theircenter, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

.2. In a floor or ceiling the combination with suitable end supports, ofbricks or tiles, havingformedin their adjoining faces coinciding groovesforming channels one above and one below the center thereof, and ametallic T- iron located within the upper channehand an inverted-T ironlocated within the lower channel and in the same vertical plane as theupper T-iron, thereby forming in effect I- beams between the adjoiningcourses of bricks or tiles, substantially as and for the purposes setforth.

3. In a floor or ceiling, the combination with supporting or end walls,of bricks or tiles having a plurality of appropriately-shaped sidegrooves, coinciding with opposite grooves in the bricks or tiles of thenext course, and T- iron strips, the lower of which are inverted,located within the channels thus formed in the same vertical plane,substantially as described.

i. In a floor or ceiling, the combination with supporting or end walls,of bricks or tiles having a plurality of appropriately-shaped sidegrooves in each side coinciding with the opposite grooves in the bricksor tiles of the next course, and a metal tie rod or strip located withineach of said channels thus formed, substantially as described.

Signed at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York,this 22d dayof October, A. D. 1808.

GUSTAV LIEBAU.

\Vitnesses:

W. L. DE Bosr,

FREDERIC CARRAGAN.

